USDA to Help Dairy Producers with Big Purchase

COVID-19 Crisis

Families First Coronavirus Response Act To $3 Billion in Commodities, Including Fresh Milk

On Tuesday, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) hosted a webinar on the new Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) USDA Purchase & Distribution Program, also known as the “food boxes” distribution program. The webinar will be posted to the page by the end of the week, and USDA AMS will host a second webinar in the very near future.

 

Last Friday, USDA announced that it is exercising authority under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to purchase and distribute up to $3 billion of agricultural products to those in need. USDA will partner with regional and local distributors, whose workforce has been significantly impacted by the closure of many restaurants, hotels, and other food service entities, to purchase $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy, and meat products. USDA AMS will procure an estimated $100 million per month in fresh fruits and vegetables, $100 million per month in a variety of dairy products and $100 million per month in meat products to provide boxes of fresh produce, dairy, and meat products to food banks and other non-profits serving Americans in need.

 

 

USDA will issue a solicitation within one week to invite proposals from offerors to supply commodity boxes to non-profit organizations, identified by the offeror, on a mutually agreeable, recurring schedule. USDA will award contracts for the purchase of the agricultural products, the assembly of commodity boxes and delivery to identified non-profit organizations that can receive, store and distribute food items.

 

 

In addition to the summary of the program above, IDFA would like to share our notes from today’s call with USDA AMS. For questions about the program, please reach out to Cary Frye, senior vice president of regulatory affairs, at cfrye@idfa.org, or email coronavirus@idfa.org.

 

 

  • The new concept for this program is that contractors will supply a pre-approved portfolio of commodities to non-profit 501(c)(3) entities. The contractors will be solely responsible for establishing a network of recipients that can distribute USDA-procured foods to end users. The contractors are responsible for all supply chain and logistics and activities necessary to ensure boxes are distributed to persons in need in the United States.

 

  • Those who submit proposals must have a good understanding about what foods are in demand by the non-profit, what quantities may be distributed by the non-profit, and preferred packaging of individual food items. Container and packaging sizes and types is not an issue as long as the non-profit can handle them; however, the distributor must know in advance which sizes/types the non-profit can handle.

 

  • All food products must be 100% U.S. origin, meaning the products were grown and processed in the United States. USDA AMS will release a list of the pre-approved foods. According to today’s webinar, a broad array of food items will be included in the solicitation, but food items must fall within six box categories:

 

  • Box 1: Fresh Produce
  • Box 2: Variety of Dairy Products
  • Box 3: Pre-Cooked Chicken and Pork Products
  • Box 4: Fresh Fluid Milk (can be included in Dairy Variety box or by itself)
  • Box 5: Any combination of 1-3, above

 

  • USDA AMS mentioned that some products are priority, including fresh fluid milk, instant and UHT milk, natural and processed cheese, yogurt, and butter. Other traits that will determine priority, more generally, include product variety, shelf-life, value, and packaging size. Products can be retail or food service items based on the need and ability of the non-profit to handle.

 

  • Awards will be distributed among seven geographic regions across the United States. Distributors may submit proposals for business in more than one region.

 

  • The important dates to remember: Acquisition – the request for solicitation will be released on April 24, 2020
  • Due Date – the due date for proposals is May 1, 2020
  • Award – awards will be announced on May 8, 2020
  • Delivery – delivery of boxes will stretch across four date ranges:beginning May 15 – June 30
  • July 1 – August 31
  • September 1 – October 31
  • November 1 – December 31

 

In addition to this new program, USDA will continue to solicit bids for food and commodity purchases, including dairy products, through the traditional Section 32 program, inclusive of Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and trade mitigation. Participants must be an approved AMS vendor to participate in the traditional Section 32 program. Please learn more here: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/becoming-approved. To that point, yesterday, USDA announced bid solicitations for procurement of Process Cheese, Butter, and Cheddar Cheese Shreds. The deadline to submit bids for this solicitation is Monday, April 27 at 1:00 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET.

 

IDFA will continue to follow the new Coronavirus Food Assistance Purchase & Distribution Program as well as the traditional Section 32 program, and we will share solicitations and bid opportunities as they become available.

2020-04-22T08:15:20-07:00April 21st, 2020|

Dire Situation for Dairy Producers Pt 1

COVID-19 Farm Crisis

With Restaurants and Other Food Service Providers Shutdown, Dairy Producers Have No Place to Send Their Milk

 

By Rick Worthington, with AgInfo.net

Kristi Spence is with Dairy West, and works with dairy in both Idaho and Utah. She says- it’s as bad a situation as she has seen.

CNN reports, Milk dumping isn’t just devastating for the farmers. For Americans who can’t afford food or are unable to buy enough milk because grocery stores are out or capping purchases, the images are painful.

Pouring out milk is another example of how major disruptions in the supply chain, caused by the pandemic and efforts to contain it, are preventing food from getting to where it needs to go.

The pandemic has delivered a major blow to several sectors, from the airline industry to retail. For the milk industry, the setback is particularly painful.

Both dairy farmers and milk processors were struggling even before the pandemic hit. Such a major disruption has only made things harder. And the rigid supply chain means neither farmers nor processors can switch gears quickly enough to avoid waste.

Nobody wants to dump milk. But doing that now — along with other efforts — could help farms pull through later on, and could help make sure that Americans have enough milk, cheese, butter and ice cream in the future.

2020-04-21T21:13:05-07:00April 21st, 2020|

Oak Trees Coming Back Following Atlas Fire in Napa County

Atlas Fire: Reality of Fires, Oaks, Vineyards and Napa’s Agricultural Future

 

By Igor Sill, Atlas Peak, Napa California

Almost three years after the devastating Atlas Peak firestorms, we begin to see our mountain landscape recovering and the once blackened oaks return to life on their own, essentially a re-birth.

Many woodland oaks survived the wildfires because they are a hearty, native hardwood species which have adapted to survive droughts and wildfires that have swept over Napa’s terrain for thousands of years.

The fires brought us an unpredictable but welcomed outcome. Today, Napa County has the greatest density of oak trees of any county in California. These oaks when combined with the beauty of vineyards are one of the defining features of Napa‘s scenery.

With the spring’s warmth, these reinvigorated oaks have thrown off pounds of acorns, showing their resiliency, adaptation and recovery to fire. Here at least, there will be no need to bring in new trees sprouted from acorns not native to this biota.

It’s been proven that fire directly promotes the establishment of oak seedlings by reducing competing understory vegetation, releasing needed soil nutrients and reducing numerous pathogens. Wildfire can also increase the regeneration of fire-adapted native species in the understory of oak woodlands while reducing the parasitic oak mistletoe.

Interestingly, Native Americans are thought to have set frequent fires in oak woodlands up until the 1800s so as to rejuvenate the land. We lost 27 oaks due to the fires on our Atlas Peak property. Today, I’ve counted well over 400 newly established healthy oak sprouts flourishing throughout the property, essentially “re-oaking” the property. A new, better post-fire era for Napa oak forests.

From a factual statistics point, oak woodlands and forests are not being eliminated within Napa County. According to David Morrison, Napa’s Director of Planning, Building & Environmental Services, nearly 42 percent of the county (or 213,000 acres) consists of oak woodlands, riparian forest, or conifer forests.

In comparison, only 13 percent of the county is used for farmland, and 6 percent is developed with urban uses. Trees cover more than twice as much land in Napa as agriculture and cities combined. The Conservation Regulations already require stream buffers and tree retention. Setbacks of 35 to 150 feet are mandated for vineyards, depending on the surrounding slopes.

Setbacks may also be applied to vineyard replanting and previously disturbed areas may be required to be re-vegetated. A minimum 60 percent of all tree canopies must be retained on any parcel where a vineyard is proposed. When biological studies are also applied, 90 percent of on-site trees are protected.

The amount of carbon absorbed by the average mature oak tree is 48 tons per year according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In comparison, cherry trees absorb approximately 20 tons of carbon per year.

So, oaks in general are incredibly important, both ecologically and economically. Nature has been lending us Napans a hand.

We all recognize that our Napa agriculture has a unique heritage. The 1968 agricultural preserve was passed by Napa’s then Board of Supervisors and later strengthened by a majority of voters to preserve, promote and protect agricultural land in Napa Valley for future generations.

The ordinance established agriculture as the “best use” of these lands and kept Napa from being overdeveloped. This was long before Napa County’s future as a prosperous wine country was assured, when many felt Napa Valley might go the way of urbanized Silicon Valley.

Napa County’s Ag Preserve was a visionary land-zoning ordinance, the first of its kind in the USA and, our farming legacy thrives today because of it, having become one of the most productive counties in the entire nation.

If governmental growth projections are correct, Napa Valley will remain a regional oasis of agriculture 50 years from now. With it, Napa’s vineyards have become the most regulated agricultural industry in California. The cost of compliance results in significant additional expense and time for us farmers, property owners as well as the County.

All farmers that I know in Napa, especially those in Atlas Peak, are tremendously diligent, responsible, eco-conscientious and concerned about always doing the right thing with their farms and surrounding lands.

It has become obvious that certifications of National Wildlife Federation, Fish Friendly Farming, CCOF and NapaGreen have become abundant and virtually posted everywhere, just note the number of vineyard signs attesting to prevention of water pollution, limited or total non-use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to protect our surrounding waterbodies, wild life, air quality and our oaks.

This is a voluntary, conscientious movement by Napa farmers to continue to “do the right thing” for Napa’s oaks, land and community, without the need for further excessive governmental bureaucratic involvement. Napa vintners wish to protect the continued presence of trees, plants, wildlife and their habitats.

Napa is well known for its outsized share of activists that have alarmed the community with deceptive and erroneous reporting of false information surrounding Napa’s long-term strategic plan. Let’s consider the science-based facts, and not alter, change or add restrictions to an already restrictive and functioning policy.

Stay safe, stay sequestered, stay healthy and appreciate our wonderful lands from inside our homes until this health crisis passes and heals us all.

 

2020-04-17T16:58:11-07:00April 21st, 2020|

Water and Ag Organization Urge Congress To Help Western Water

From California Farm Bureau

150 Water and Agricultural Organizations Urge Congress and the White House to Address Western Water Challenges

 

A coalition of 150 organizations representing water and agricultural interests in the western U.S. urged Congress and President Trump today to address aging Western water infrastructure as further measures are considered to help the U.S. economy recover from the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

“The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the importance of safety and stability provided by domestic food production,” the groups stated in separate letters to Congress and the president. “As this crisis has pointed out, a stable domestic food supply is essential and of national security interest. For farmers and ranchers to survive, and for food to continue to be produced here in the American West, a stable water supply is a necessary part of any conversation about our national food security.”

President Trump has stated his belief that renewed efforts to meet the systemic infrastructure demands of the nation will be an important step in combating the long-term impacts of the pandemic.

“We strongly agree,” the organizations stated in the letter to the White House. “In particular, we urge you to advance critically needed investments that address the shortcomings of our aging Western water infrastructure.”

Existing water infrastructure in the West needs rehabilitation and improvement. Most of the federally funded water infrastructure projects that benefit the large cities, rural communities and small farms in the West were built more than 50 years ago. As hydrological conditions in the West change and populations continue to expand, failure to address water security has become increasingly critical.

“Failing to improve water infrastructure and develop supplies will inevitably result in additional conflict as pressure grows to ‘solve’ urban and environmental water shortages,” the groups stated. Page 2 of 2 “Moving water away from Western irrigated agriculture will surely contribute to the decline of our national food security.”

The coalition letters—spearheaded by the California Farm Bureau Federation, Family Farm Alliance and Western Growers—emphasize that water conservation, water recycling, watershed management, conveyance, desalination, water transfers, groundwater storage and surface storage are all needed in a diversified management portfolio.

“If and when additional infrastructure funding is discussed as part of a larger economic stimulus package, we need your help to ensure that federal dollars flow to the water infrastructure needs mentioned above,” the letters conclude.

2020-04-20T16:31:49-07:00April 21st, 2020|

How COVID-19 Has Affected Farms

California Agriculture Adapts To COVID-19

Source: California Farm Bureau

By Tim Hammerich, with the AgInfo Network

How is California agriculture adapting to the new reality of COVID-19 and social distancing?

Small farms that lost business from restaurants and other food-service clients have been looking for alternative customers or business models. More farms now offer food-box options for pickup or delivery, and a number have collaborated with other farms to lend variety to their food-box offerings. Some farms have also tried e-commerce as a potential way to expand their customer base.

Shelf-stable foods such as canned peaches and pears have seen demand leap during the pandemic. The head of the California Canning Peach Association says retail demand the past month has been “unprecedented.” Processors have changed their operations to replenish depleted store shelves and ship products quickly to retail customers. School districts are using fruit cups in the “grab and go” school meals they provide to students.

The pandemic has brought a sharp shift in demand at retail nurseries and garden centers. Sales of landscaping plants have slumped, but sales of vegetables, herbs, fruit trees and other edible plants have skyrocketed. Nurseries say many of their sales have been to first-time gardeners who hope to avoid trips to the supermarket by growing more of their own food.

2020-04-16T07:27:24-07:00April 20th, 2020|

Urban Ag, Farmers Markets Must Follow CDC Guidelines

Urban Ag and Farmers Markets Supplies Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Part of a Healthy Diet

By Pam Kan-Rice, UCANR Assistant Director, News and Information Outreach

Even as Californians shelter in place to contain the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, nutritious food remains vital to the health and well-being of our communities.

“Eating fruits and vegetables is known to benefit our overall health and help our immune system,” said Lorrene Ritchie, director of the UC Nutrition Policy Institute. “At a time when we need to be especially vigilant about staying healthy, eating healthy is essential.”

To help minimize exposure and risk of spreading of the virus, urban farms need to follow some key guidelines from the CDC, said Jennifer Sowerwine, UC Cooperative Extension metropolitan agriculture and food systems specialist in the Department of Environment, Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley.

UC Cooperative Extension has compiled a list of resources for farmers, community gardeners and other people working in the food system to ensure that they can continue supplying fresh, healthy and affordable food to Californians.

“Social distancing, heightened health and hygiene practices and cleaning and disinfecting procedures reduce the risk,” said Sowerwine.

Although eating a nutritious diet can boost our immunity, the Los Angeles Times reported produce sales plummeted by 90% or more at Southern California produce markets after the statewide shelter-in-place rules went into effect.

“It’s worrisome to see that sales of fruits and vegetables are dropping so sharply, but not surprising,” said Rachel Surls, UC Cooperative Extension sustainable food systems advisor for Los Angeles County. “As people shop during the crisis, they may be prioritizing groceries that can be stored for a longer time in the fridge or pantry. And they may be on a very limited food budget, even more so than usual, so they are likely prioritizing essentials like bread and rice and baby formula.”

To support farmers in California, the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program created a directory at http://www.calagtour.org for consumers to find local farms to purchase produce directly.

For families who have lost jobs and income, the risk of food insecurity increases. Some families could supplement their food from gardens and urban agriculture during this crisis.

Consumers must practice safety, too, when visiting farmers markets and farm stands. UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor Ruth Dahlquist-Willard explained, “Things like keeping the minimum six-foot distance from customers, not touching any produce that you’re not planning to buy, leaving as soon as you’ve made a purchase and washing the produce when you get home would be some good guidelines.”

The virus is thought to be spread mainly from person to person, however there is evidence that COVID-19 can last for days on hard surfaces, thus the need to ramp up good health and hygiene practices, social distancing and cleaning and sanitizing of surfaces.

University of California research and extension faculty have compiled a list of helpful fact sheets and resources for farmers, community gardeners and other food system workers to ensure fresh, healthy and affordable food for communities across the state:

All of these resources are posted on the UC Urban Agriculture website at https://ucanr.edu/sites/UrbanAg.

“During this challenging time, I am heartened by the quick and thoughtful responses by many extension, grassroots and institutional efforts, including Community Alliance with Family Farm’s COVID-19 Responses and Resources for California Family Farms, Mutual Aid organizations where groups of young, healthy and lower-risk people are bringing food and services to vulnerable people who shouldn’t be in public at all, and Bayareafood.info that seeks to support local restaurants, farmers, and food systems workers as they weather this latest storm,” said Sowerwine.

2020-04-16T15:31:45-07:00April 16th, 2020|

Labor Shortage Leads to New Technology

Automation Replaces Helps with Labor Shortages

By Tim Hammerich, with the AgInfo Network

What will it take to solve agriculture’s labor shortage? Many say technology and automation are the future, but often these technologies are expensive and the payback periods can be too long.

Parker Jones saw this as an opportunity and in 2019 he launched Hermanos Automated Service. The company purchases expensive labor-saving equipment and offers it as a service to Salinas Valley vegetable growers. Jones says it all started with an automated weeder.

“Our weeder is called a Garford InRow Weeder. It uses vision sensors to detect the planting pattern and just kind of goes in between and outside of the plants with a little half-moon disc,” said Jones.

“And the way it takes the weeds out in between the plants is the most natural, almost identical to how a human uses a hoe. In the motion where yes, it does go around the plant, but the way when it cuts into the ground, it’s almost dang-near identical to a hoe,” he said.

The service has caught on. Jones has added machines and is trying out new equipment to expand his offerings.

“We started out with, with one machine, and now we’re up to three machines that would be working every day if it would stop raining,” he explained.

2020-04-11T15:19:47-07:00April 16th, 2020|

Almond Board Wants More Efficient Irrigation

Almond Board Goal: More Crop Per Drop of Water

By Patrick Cavanaugh, with the AgInfo Network 

Jossett Lewis has Chief Scientific Officer with the Almond Board of California. And this is a big goal of the Almond Board more efficiency in water use for almonds.

“We’re tackling this from two directions. One is to improve irrigation efficiency and to get more crop per drop,” said Lewis. “So our goal of decreasing the amount of water by 20% needed to grow a pound of almonds is our Orchard 2025 goal in this area. And we’ll focus attention on how to improve the efficiency of operating irrigation systems. We’ve had really great adoption already of high efficiency systems like micro sprinklers and drip,” she said.

And the almond board is funding research and doing grower outreach to find out when an almond tree actually needs the water.

“We have a goal of more precise timing of the application of that water, which can pay off, particularly in getting more yield for the same amount of water,” Lewis said. “A large part of achieving that goal is actually improving the efficiency of how we time irrigation so that it matches up closely with the needs that the tree, so we can get more yield for the same amount of water. So that’s an area of continued work and a lot of outreach,” Lewis explained.

2021-05-12T11:05:01-07:00April 15th, 2020|

Sakata Seed America Acquires Vanguard Lettuce Program

Sakata Will Gain Vanguard Lettuce Genetics

Sakata Seed America has acquired Vanguard Seed, a prominent lettuce seed Company, based in the Salinas Valley.

The purchase of Vanguard provides Sakata Seed America with all existing Vanguard lettuce genetics. Vanguard’s seed team, dedicated to bringing quality lettuce genetics to the market, will join Sakata Seed America and Vanguard’s breeding, seed production, sales and marketing will be fully integrated under the Sakata brand.

“This is a mutually advantageous decision that allows us to bring top quality lettuce varieties to the market,” stated John Nelson, Vice President of Sakata Seed America. “Sakata is a market leader in multiple segments, including broccoli, and has an excellent reputation for quality, reliability and service in the Salinas Valley, and beyond. We believe this opportunity will create great synergy for both the lettuce and broccoli markets,” explained Nelson.

Sakata Seed America will integrate the Vanguard team into daily operations and retain Vanguard’s Salinas warehouse and office location. ‘We are excited for this opportunity to expand our product line into the lettuce segment”, continued Nelson. “Lettuce is a widely consumed vegetable globally and this acquisition will enable

Sakata to accelerate development of lettuce varieties for global markets and position our company as a major player in the lettuce market segment,” noted Nelson.

“The Vanguard team is excited to integrate operations with the Sakata team, and we look forward to continuing to develop the lettuce program backed by Sakata’s reputation for quality, reliability, and service,” said Dave Henson, Co-owner of Vanguard Seed. “Sakata is a leader in the broccoli segment in the Salinas Valley and beyond; together we can create a similar success story for lettuce,” Henson said.

2020-04-11T13:39:52-07:00April 14th, 2020|

LGMA Food Safety Webinar Scheduled April 17

LGMA to Hold Webinar for Produce Buyers on Food Safety Practices and Audits

 The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) will update retail and foodservice buyers about government audits and the process for making changes to strengthen food safety practices for growing leafy greens during a webinar Friday, April 17 from 10 to 11 a.m. PDT.

“First and foremost, we want to assure everyone that LGMA government food safety audits are taking place during the current COVID-19 situation,” said Scott Horsfall, CEO of the California LGMA.  Horsfall emphasized the California Department of Food and Agricultural (CDFA) considers these audits essential and they are continuing as normal. “The LGMA is working with CDFA to offer solutions that allow for enhanced social distancing during audits but, as always, LGMA member companies will be audited an average of five times this year to verify required food safety practices are being followed on farms.”

Scott Horsfall

The webinar will also feature important information on the process for strengthening LGMA required food safety practices in the aftermath of the latest outbreak associated with romaine.

“A lot is happening that we want to share with the produce buying trade,” said Horsfall. “LGMA Subcommittees are meeting regularly to review all facets of our required food safety practices. The subcommittee dealing with water used in growing leafy greens has completed its review of the current LGMA required practices and is recommending over 30 separate changes to strengthen existing practices.”

The LGMA’s proposed changes to water metrics have been submitted as part of a collaborative process designed to gather input from stakeholders throughout the industry.  The process is being facilitated by Western Growers. A new website was launched last week to serve as the hub of this important effort.  Representatives from Western Growers will participate in the LGMA webinar to explain how the system to update metrics and how others can get involved.

“Efforts to improve the safety of leafy greens must go on – even in the midst of a pandemic,” said Horsfall. “We know your schedules are hectic and a lot is already on your minds, but we hope you’ll take 60 minutes to learn how the industry is working together to improve safety. More importantly, we hope you’ll engage as part of our leafy greens community.”

To register for the webinar, please visit the link below:

Collaborating for Safer Leafy Greens Webinar || Apr 17, 2020 10:00 AM PDT:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4865354752159968526
2020-04-13T17:11:47-07:00April 13th, 2020|

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